Champions League table: League phase latest standings for 2024-25 season

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Evening Standard

·17 September 2024

Champions League table: League phase latest standings for 2024-25 season

New era for the game’s significantly revamped elite club competition begins this week

A fresh era for the Champions League is underway with the launch of the new 'League Phase', which replaces the old group stage this season.

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Each team will face eight different opponents, with four matches played at home and four away - two more than under the previous format.

In total there are 36 teams in one big league. The top eight will all qualify automatically for the knockout stages, while the teams finishing in 9th to 24th place will face a two-legged play-off tie in the New Year to secure a last-16 spot. Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from European competition entirely, with no route down into the Europa League.

Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa are the English teams in the mix, and the new format threw up some blockbuster ties from the first matchday.

It's an England vs Italy week to kick things off. Liverpool fought back to win away at AC Milan on Tuesday, before City host Inter Milan on Wednesday in a rematch of the 2023 final in Istanbul and Arsenal travel to take on Europa League holders Atalanta on Thursday.

Villa got their first-ever Champions League campaign off to a flyer when they beat Swiss side Young Boys on Tuesday. Celtic have a kind first fixture at home to Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia.